Push-button assembly



Jan- 22, 1957 H. w. YOUNG ET AL 2,778,665

PUSH-BUTTON ASSEMBLY Filed May 6. 1 954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HERBERT W. YOUNG PAUL H. GREVENGOED INVENTQRS United States Patent O PUSH-BUTTON ASSEMBLY Herbert W. Young and Paul H. Grevengoed, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignors to National Brass Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan Application May 6, 1954, Serial No. 428,057

4 Claims. (Cl. 292-1) This invention relates to the construction of door locks of the type having a bolt-reciprocating rollback mechanism and also a locking system for blocking the movement of the rollback mechanism. It is conventional practice in mechanisms of this type to provide a laterallymovable actuating member for the locking system, with this member being controlled by a push-button extending through the rose plate adjacent the knob where it is readily lanism may be assembled in doors of widely-varying thicknesses, and since the push-button structure must operate in a certain desirable relationship to the outer surface of the door, an adjustment is necessary which will accommodate the push-button assembly to the varying distances between the latch mechanism and the door surface. necessity of providing this adjustment has heretofore resulted in the marketing of latch mechanisms with the push-button components separated from the remainder of the structure for installation to suit the requirements of the particular door.

This invention provides a push-button sub-assembly which includes the rose reinforcement plate, the button member itself, and an extension shaft for the transfer of forces axially from the button member into the interior of the door for engagement with the locking actuator of the latch mechanism, and a suitable spring which preferably maintains the push-button in an inward position with light pressure against the locking actuator. The pushbutton member and the extension shaft have threaded engagement, and relative rotation of one with respect to the other has the effect of increasing the length of the unit to accommodate it to varying thicknesses of doors. The rotary adjustment of the push-button to the proper setting 4is made prior to the installation of the rose plate or exterior decorative escutcheon. The rose plate is provided with a hole which fits a non-circular cross-section of the push-button so that the button is received therein in slideable but non-rotative engagement. The installation of the rose plate thereby sets the adjustment of the pushbutton.

The several features of this invention will be analysed in detail through a discussion of the particular embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawing. In the drawing,

' Figure l presents a section takenon a horizontal plane through a door in which a mechanism embodying this invention is installed.

Figure 2 is a view of the sub-assembly including the rose plate and the components related to the push-button.

Figure 3 is a view of the rose plate shown in Figure 1.

The

` ture 32 in the rose plate.

2,778,665 Patented Jan. 22, 1957 ICS Figure 4 is a view of the rose reinforcement plate shown in Figure l.

Figure 5 is a viewof the push-button extension shaft shown in Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1, a latch mechanism 10 is shown installed in a horizontal bore in the door 11. A bar 12 is positioned in the hole 13 machined in the door to intersect the bore in which the mechanism 10 is positioned. The handles 14 and 15 are in driving engagement with the bar sections 12a and 12b, respectively, these sections respectively controlling the rollback members 16 and 17.

The mechanism shown in Figure 1 may be locked against opening from the left as viewed in Figure 1 through the action of a system which prevents the turning of the knob 14. A locking lever 18 is positioned by the bar 19 which is slideably mounted for transverse movement with respect to the latch mechanism. This bar 19 may be regarded as an actuator for the lock, and is provided with a head 20 to create an enlarged surface against which the push-button system may operate. The actuator bar is positioned by the inner end of the extension shaft 21, the shaft having threaded engagement with the push-button member 22. The shaft 21 is of non-circular crosssection, and is slideably and non-rotatively mounted in the bracket 23 which is fixed with respect to the rose reinforcement plate 24. The ends of the bracket 23 are -formed to extend through the apertures 25a and 25b of the rose reinforcement plate and are crimped into firm engagement therewith on assembly. Suitable screws (not shown) pass through the holes 26 and 27 to se'cure the rose reinforcement plate against the outer surface 28 of the door. `The bracket 23 may be regarded as an inward extension of the rose reinforcement plate 24 to utilize the space provided by the hole 13. The push-button 22 has a portion of its length preferably formed with a circular cross-section 29 which is slideably and rotatively received within the hole 30 in the rose reinforcement plate. The outer extremity 31 of the push-button is noncircular Ain, cross-section, and registers with a similarly formed opening 32 in the exterior rose plate 33. The rose plate is snapped into fixed position with respect to the reinforcement plate on the installation of the latch mechanism, and is held in position preferably through integrally-formed leaf spring members as indicated at 34, which are suitably disposed around the axis of rotation of the knobs. Installation of the rose plate 33 will set the angular adjustment of the push-button 22 with respect to the extension shaft 21, since further rotation of the push-button is prevented by the engagement of the portion 31 of the push-button With the similarly formed aperset of formed abutments 36 adjacent the inner end of the extension shaft to generate a light biasing action urging the button assembly inwardly. lIhe magnitude of this biasing action is insuflicient to actuate the bar 19 into locking position, and is merely for the purpose of removing lost motion between the head 20 and the end of the shaft 21.

The particular embodiments of the present invention which have been illustrated and discussed herein are for tially parallel to the axis of said roll-back means for A suitable spring 35 acts be- 1 tween the inner surface of the reinforcement plate and a positioning said locking means, a rose-reinforcement plate having an aperture therein disposed opposite said actuating member, and a rose plate superimposed over said rose-reinforcement plate and having an opening adjacent said rose-reinforcement plate aperture, said push-button assembly comprising: a button member having a portion thereof slideably and rotatably received in said aperture, and an exterior portion slideably and non-rotatably received in said opening, said button member being internally threaded on an axis parallel to the axes of said aperture and said opening; shaft means having a threaded portion adapted to cooperate with the threads of said button member, said shaft means having abutment means adjacent the inner end thereof; a bracket member xed with respect to said rose-reinforcement plate and having an aperture slideably and non-rotatably receiving said shaft means; and spring means confined between said abutment means and a surface xed with respect to said rose-reinforcement plate and thereby urging said shaft means and button member inwardly.

2. A push-button assembly for a door lock, said lock including roll-back means, locking means adapted to block the movement of said roll-back means, an actuating member slideably mounted for movement along a path substantially parallel to the axis of said roll-back means for positioning said locking means, a rose-reinforcement plate having an aperture therein disposed opposite said actuating member, and a rose plate superimposedv over said roscreinforcement plate and having an opening adjacent said rose-reinforcement plate aperture, said push-button assembly comprising: a button member having a portion thereof slideably and rotatably received in said aperture, and an exterior portion slideably and non-rotatably received in saidopening, said button member being threaded on an axis parallel to the axes of said aperture and said opening; and shaft means having a threaded portion adapted to cooperate with the threads of said button member; and a bracket member xed with respect to said rose-reinforcement plate and having an aperture slideably and non-rotatably receiving said shaft means.

3. A push-button assembly for a door lock, said lock including roll-back means, locking means adapted to block the movement of said roll-back means, an actuating member slideably mounted for movement along a path substantially parallel to the axis of said roll-back means for positioning said locking means, a rose-reinforcement plate having a non-circular aperture therein disposed opposite said actuating member, and a rose plate superimposed over said rose-reinforcement plate and having an opening adjacent said` rose-reinforcement plate aperture, said push-button assembly comprising: a button member having an exterior portion slideably and non-rotatably received in said opening; said button member being threaded on an axis parallel to the axes of said aperture and said opening; shaft means slideably and non-rotatably mounted with respect to said rose-reinforcement plate and having a threaded portion adapted to cooperate with the threads of said button member, said shaft means having abutment means adjacent the inner end thereof; and spring means conned between said abutment means and a surface ixed with respect to said rose-reinforcement plate and thereby urging said shaft means and button member inwardly.

4. A push-button assembly for a door lock, saidv lock including roll-back means, locking means adapted to block the movement of said roll-back means, an actuating member slideably mounted for movement along a path substantially parallel to the axis of said roll-back means for positioning said locking means, a rose-reinforcement plate having a non-circular aperture therein disposed opposite said actuating member, and a rose plate superimposed over said rose-reinforcement plate and having an opening adjacent said rose-reinforcement plate aperture, said pushbutton assembly comprising: a button member having an exterior portion slideably and non-rotatably received in said opening; said button member being threaded on an axisparallel to the axes of said aperture and said opening; and` shaft means slideably and non-rotatably mounted with respect to said rose-reinforcement plate and having a threaded portion adapted to cooperate with the threads of said button member` References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,295,435 Teich Sept. 8, 1942 

